It’s scary how our time and life go by a lot quicker than we think it does. We bump into an old friend and discover their children are no longer toddlers, but teenagers. We explore a memory of a good time and realise it is further in the past than we thought. We say things to each other like: “How the time flies!” I often feel that I want to echo the prayer in Psalm 39:4-6 in the New Living Translation, which says
“Lord, remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.”
Life Goes Faster Than You Think
If life truly is going this fast, we need to be sure that we are adding some eternal value to it, to spend our lives on something that will outlast it. This has been my prayer for years and primarily the reason I write this blog, to remind us, that real treasure, is having Christ in our hearts.
As it says in Matt 6:19-21, treasure and rewards in this life are temporary, the real treasure and rewards in heaven are for eternity. It is so easy to forget what life is about and like David in Psalm 17:14 I want to pray “O Lord, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life.”
I am grateful that our Lord is by His nature, a rewarder of His children (Heb 11:6) and that it is not necessarily a worldly reward, but an eternal reward. Not all of life is rewarded, some of it is just the duty of life and what God expects us to do. We all have stuff to do, that is the first mile, it is the second mile is what God rewards. (Matt 5:41)
To further understand this principle of building treasures in heaven, look at the following three passages:
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“‘Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So, when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matt 6:1-4)
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“’And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matt 6:4-6)
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“ ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matt 6:16-18)
As we can see from the above three instances, the rewards that God gives are personal to our lives. We may be able to fool people with our motives, but God always knows the true intentions of our hearts and rewards us accordingly. Our giving, our praying, our spiritual disciplines are to be for the audience of ONE, God and no other and then we will receive the rewards He will give us. That is eternal value.
Seeking Eternal Rewards
Even our lives and how we live them have the potential for treasure in heaven. Jeremiah 32:19 tells us “Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.” All of us will answer for the lives we have lived. We know that we cannot earn our salvation, our good deeds alone cannot save us, but we as believers, who know Jesus, can also know that we will all stand before the Lord and receive rewards for how we have lived our lives.
“Then he told me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy. Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev 22:10-13)
- At the end of our lives, even our good works and conduct will be evaluated in God’s holy fire of judgement, and only what survives will be treasure in heaven.
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Cor 3:10-15)
- Then there is also the reward of letting God vindicate us, leaving things in His hands when we experience suffering and persecution for who we are as His children.
“ ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:11-12)
- Even in our workplace, there is the reward of doing all things as unto Christ, in submitting to the leaders or masters God has placed over us.
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
We often think that our day-to-day work to earn a living has no eternal value, but if the attitude is to do it as unto the Lord, it receives with it an eternal reward.
- Finally, being faithful with what God has entrusted to us also gives us eternal treasure in heaven. A quick read of the parable of the talents in Matt 25:14-30, will show us that God is pleased and rewards those of us who work with the time, gifts and talents which He has entrusted to us. It is not about the return we make on it, but more whether we can be entrusted to work with what He has given us, no matter how much we receive from Him.
Then the greatest treasure in heaven is the reward of eternal life received through faith in Jesus Christ, which is even now being kept in heaven for us.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
God is a Rewarder
Lord, today I want to reset my priorities and seek You first above all things in my life, because You are the One who cares for me and watches over my life. Help me to build into my life that which pleases Your heart. Help me to seek Your rewards and not the rewards of men. Help me to focus on having the heart and attitudes in life, that bring eternal treasure in heaven. As opposed to a heart and mind focused on stuff that will burn up in the fire and not survive the eternal test. In my spiritual life, my work life, and day-to-day living, may You be glorified and honoured because great is my reward in Heaven.
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